Top Startups Advices Given By Seth Godin
If you are a fan of Seth Godin who has a brilliant marketing mind - stick with me till the end.
Most of the so-called marketing "influencers" out there are celebrities. They have made it. But, they forgot how to "do" marketing; their employees promote their new books, build their new websites, and launch new products.
They’ve made it. In this blog, I am going to reveal Seth Godin's best strategy to launch a new business in 90 days. Questions are what every business should ask and clear in their minds:
Come up with a business idea on the fly
Explain EXACTLY how he would launch this new business
Describe how he would find his first customer
What is the exact 5-step process Seth Godin uses to launch a new business (from scratch)?
Market WITH people, not AT them
"We, marketers, are selfish, lying, short-term thinkers. We believe that our job is to manipulate people as we market to them." - Seth Godin
The strategy he applied: around 20 years ago, you could come up with an average product, invest a few thousand euros in TV Ads saying that your product was the best, showed qualities rather than quantities, and sell 10,000 units of it.
People are immune to bad marketing.
Believe me or not, still, it remains true.
When was the last time you bought SEO services from a cold email? When was the last time you subscribed to a new marketing software from an automated direct message on Twitter?
Never. Right?
We expect to sell more using those shady techniques, yet we HATE it when it happens to us.
The first step towards launching a new business according to Seth Godin is to change your mindset. You can't come up with a product or service and THEN decide to market it.
According to Seth Godin, changing mindset is the first step towards launching a new business. You can not directly come up with a product or service and then jump to market it.
2) If possible, focus on a smaller audience as possible
You can take advantage of smaller groups of people. With them, you can directly interact with the audience. In smaller audiences narrow down your focus to reach the potential customers.
Here is a living proof example: In 2004, Mark Zuckerberg launched a social network for Harvard students only and the rest is history. Look where Facebook is now.
So, how do you pick a tiny audience?
This part takes discipline.
You probably have an idea of a product or service you want to offer; now it’s time to select the bullseye: who are the people who will benefit the most from using your product or service?
When it comes to launching a business, all you need to pick a small audience and interact with them. So that, you will have ideas of a product or service you want to offer. Now, keen your eyes to find potential customers who will benefit the most from using your product or service.
3) Create a remarkable product
Ok, ok, this might sound cliché but hear me out first. Remarkable marketing starts with a remarkable product and makes this remarkable you
How would you define a remarkable product? It is a product that your customers simply can't live without; they love it and enjoy it so much no matter how and what they tell their friends, who tell their friends, who tell their friends.
You get the drill.
What is the pitfall?
They try to sell average products to average people. However, if the product is average, why do customers talk about it to others?
Everyone wants to use free products - there is no string attached. If the product is great then it is in their marketing. They went from 16,000 daily active users to 2.7 Million in 2 years.
As Seth Godin said, the reason to start using Facebook is not that see ads in a lifestyle magazine but because your friends told you about it.
Now pill is hard to swallow: you’re not going to launch the next Facebook, MailChimp, or Slack.
They’re solving big problems for millions of people.
Still, there are endless problems that arise you can solve them by creating a remarkable product for a small business. It is time to get out of the building and interact with people.
Identify one of their most painful, unsolved problems
Work hard to help them solve it
Give a sample of your product or service for free
Do they rave about it and offer to share it with their friends straight away? You have a winner.
If not, collect their feedback and start again.
There is no silver bullet in creating a remarkable product. Patience will help you to do this. it might take months or years to find the right recipe to serve your potential customers.
The more small audience is, the more chances are high to make your product better by gathering feedback.
4) Create an abundance of confidence
In the words of Seth Godin, “By giving people an abundance of confidence which will create an abundance of value and all I’m asking in return is to be trusted.”
The concept can be applied to any type of product to service: to be trusted you must first give value for free. This requires patience.
5) Make a spinner and spin the wheel
You might feel overwhelmed by all of the above, and that’s ok. You might not know where to focus: there are so many things you could do, so many channels you could use, and so many ideas running through your head.
How do you choose which project to focus on first? Simple.
Just pick one, or as Seth Godin would say: “Make a spinner and spin the wheel”. This is for random pickers. Do a thing and stick to it.
Success is a byproduct of helping people solve their biggest most painful problems.
Remember:
“I know that success will come, I just don’t know when.”
Key takeaways
Market WITH people, not AT them. Your customers are human beings, just like you.
Focus on the smallest audience possible. You can always expand later.
Create a remarkable product. If your first 10 customers spread the word about it, you have a winner. If not, collect feedback and start again.
Create an abundance of confidence. Give away a huge amount of value for free so people trust you in return.
Make a spinner and spin the wheel. There will never be a perfect time to do anything: start today and stick to it at any rate.
